


Song of the Sea

by Tsughi



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Aquaphobia, Black Romance, Blackrom, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, M/M, Multi, Red Romance, human!Sollux, redrom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-18
Updated: 2012-08-18
Packaged: 2017-11-12 09:10:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/489190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsughi/pseuds/Tsughi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sollux has a crippling fear of water for very good reasons. His friends of questionable loyalty attempt to help him in overcoming his fear with a bit… unconventional means. The experience turns out to be terrifying all around, not only because of his hydrophobia, but because of what was in the water as well. (Rating and tags may change)</p><p>POSTPONED INDEFINITELY</p>
            </blockquote>





	Song of the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys,  
> Hope you enjoy the fic. I've done some recent editing to it, changed a couple of plans for it.... So I hope you like what I did with the place. And I'm on tumblr with the same username, in case you wanted to ask me anything.
> 
> So without further adieu, happy reading!

Ever since Sollux was three his father made it a habit to take him to the beach.

It was an unspoken “man time” between the two of them and his mother understood this quite well. She would never protest when his father would suddenly announce that he was taking Sollux out. He never needed to say where he was taking him; she always knew without asking.

When Sollux was very little they would go swimming and build sandcastles along the shore. There was usually a fit involved as the waves inevitably swept away their sandcastles. One time Sollux became so angry that he chucked sand at the offending waves. In his fury, he never noticed his father laughing in the background.

As he got older they picked up shell collecting. This phase was one of Sollux’s longest. He absolutely loved to unearth all the different colored shells. Sometimes he would even be so lucky as to find sea glass. It was always a big deal whenever he found some; he would always come running to show his dad his collection. The little boy always insisted at bringing all of it home, and his father never put up much of a protest. Out of curiosity, his father asked him what Sollux planned to do with the shells and sea glass. The first couple times Sollux proudly declared that he was going to make a necklace for his mother, despite the fact she would have to help him make it. After a little while, Sollux would become embarrassed at the question and his father took note that from then on his son was making two necklaces for each visit and collection of sea trinkets.

The shell collecting eventually fell away to wading into the water, submerged just up to his ankles. It was surprising how peaceful and serene his father looked while doing this and it took no time at all for Sollux to catch onto the habit as well. Later, that fell into them lying on their backs in the warm sand to watch clouds drift by. That then became watching the waves roll on the shore.

When Sollux turned thirteen his father declared that they were going to vacation at the beach for a few days. This wasn’t abnormal, they would go out occasionally to the secluded bay and pitch a tent right at the tree line, just a couple hundred yards from the shore. What was odd that when they got there, his father didn’t head for the thick of the collection of trees, but headed off to the side where it was thinner and was hardly any barrier between them and the rock face of one of the cliffs surrounding the water.

The location they stopped at was a little bit off from the beach and into the trees and right up to the rocky cliff face. His father paused with a small smile before he showed Sollux the small space between the rocks that he could squeeze through to get through and into the cliff itself.

The first time Sollux made his way into that cavern, he was mildly surprised at how the cave wasn’t all that dark. Sure, it was dim, but the lagoon caught the light glimmering from the cracks way above their head in the ceiling of the cave just right so that the water seemed to glow. It was calm, still, and quiet. The peaceful little pool of water was so vastly different from the angry ocean just outside the cave. The sea radiated its own beauty, but this was something else.

At his father’s gentle guidance, Sollux slipped his toes into the clear, shallow water. He could see from there that the bottom disappeared further out, and with his skin touching the water he could feel the ever so subtle push and pull of the current. The pool was alive, and with the soft tide, it seemed to be breathing.

Every weekend after that his father would take him to that little cave and, after Sollux grew accustomed to the stillness and quiet, they continued their father son routine. They would talk by those gentle waters. They would laugh. They would skip stones across the surreally still water. They would sing.

While Sollux never thought of himself as a great singer, especially in his early childhood where his lisp nearly rendered him unintelligible, he always thought that his father was an amazing singer. His dad would always tell him that the birds taught him to sing, that the wind taught him to sing, how his mother taught him to sing, and how Sollux himself taught him how to sing.

Sollux would always laugh at his father, but it always made him immensely happy to hear his father insist that Sollux taught him to sing when he was just a little baby. When Sollux eventually stopped arguing, which wasn’t long because Sollux’s heart wasn’t into the argument, his father would always fill the silence that followed with the soft melody of his voice.

_By the soft waters I met my lady fair,_

_Her soul was soft as satin; golden was her hair._

_By her breast she carried a gentle song,_

_And his eyes looked up at me all night long._

_Her voice was softer than an angel’s,_

_His eyes were as deeper than wells,_

_Her smile was as gentle as the breeze,_

_His laugh danced through the trees._

_Before that moment I was lost,_

_Deep in an undetectable frost._

_She stood there in the sea’s foam,_

_And at last, I knew I was home._

It was a tad bit too romantic for Sollux’s tastes but, his father used to sing it to him every night when he was little and on the nights later when he had trouble sleeping or even when Sollux became sad or worried about anything from school, to his friends, to his family.

When he started high school, Sollux’s father became rather sickly.As it turns out that his father had a serious heart condition. His father never wanted Sollux to worry, and for the most part, Sollux was unaware of his father’s waning health. But he knew something was up when his father decided to opt out of going to the beach after school one Friday, and even the next weekend after that. It wasn’t long until his father was visibly declining; his face was pasty and pale, the light was dimming behind his eyes. Slowly, Sollux learned to stop asking about their trips as his worry built up for his dad. It was obvious his condition was rapidly becoming serious, or perhaps it always had been.

Their visits hadn’t stopped completely, however. His father would still insist on making the drive despite Sollux’s mother protesting against it. Sollux hardly complained, but in hindsight, perhaps he should have.

Sollux had just turned off the car and had pulled the keys out of the ignition when he noticed there was something off about his dad. The older man seemed tense and rigid, far from his usually relaxed demeanor, which was even more odd since they were at their beach- one of the most relaxing places for them to be. Yet, his father still stared at the windshield, the glass seemingly blocking his gaze despite the fact there was faintly glistening sand and rolling waves just on the other side of the windshield.

“Are you okay?” Sollux asked quietly, hesitating on the decision to put the keys right back into the ignition and head back home.

“What…?” His fathers voice drifted in, his eyes locked on to something ahead of him, not looking at Sollux.

“I thaid-“

“No, I’m fine,” His father interrupted, as though Sollux wasn’t even talking. Sollux cast a worried glance over his father, who still wasn’t making eye contact with him.

“You thure?” The teen said carefully, seriously weighing driving home right then and not even waiting for an answer.

“Yes,” the next thing Sollux heard was the clicking of his father unlocking the door before he stepped out of the car. He barely cast so much of a “let’s go” at his son before he shut the door behind him. Sputtering a little in mild shock, Sollux scrambled out of the car to chase after his father. For a sickly man, he was moving rather fast- which only increased Sollux’s worry as he really shouldn’t be….

Taking his jacket off in the middle of November.

Before Sollux could even realize what his father was doing, the man already had his shoes and sock off, working on rolling up the pant legs on his jeans. Sollux’s brisk walk broke out into a run as he rushed to catch up to his father, but by the time he got there all his father was doing was… innocently wriggling his toes into the sand. Sollux gave his dad an almost exasperated look, who in turn gave him a cheeky grin.

“You’ll catch a cold…” Sollux protested weakly but his father simply ignored the statement by tilting his head up to the sky, letting the cloud-filtered sunlight to bathe him as his eyes slipped closed. The younger sighed, tucking his hands into his pockets. His father really was such a child at his heart. It was impossible to be upset because this was him, the dad he knew, and he couldn’t complain about the renewed spirit. So, with an almost relieved heart, Sollux slipped out of his own shoes and socks to join his father in the sand.

It was nice.

Pretending, as it was.

Pretending that his father was alright and that everything was fine. They would always come back the next weekend…

His father waded into the water, all the way up to his ankles… (“Hey it’th a bit cold for that.”) then his lower calves… (“Theriously, winter isn’t the betht time to go thwimming….”) then almost the back of the knees…(“Dad…”)

Then he disappeared.

Sollux lurched forward with a justified start as he watched his father rapidly fall into the water. Splashing violently through the water -attempting to get his jacket off, failing and deciding at the last moment to leave it on anyway- the frightened teen made his way over to the spot where his father vanished at.

It wasn’t even that deep, just up to his knees. He shuffled around with his feet but to no avail could he find any holes, big rocks or platues. It was all just smooth sand and a few pebbles.

“Dad?” Sollux called out in a voice cracked with fear. “Dad!” His calls were met with no answer.

He splashed around with his hands, spraying cold water droplets every which way In his frantic search. Tears filled his eyes as seconds ticked by. Precious seconds.

In a desperate attempt, Sollux dove under the water.

The water was dark as pitch and colder than ice, sending a chatter into Sollux’s very bones. Despairingly, he cast out his arms, waving them about in every which way in attempt to scrape something. His wavering was fruitless, and he breached the surface for more air before immediately tucking right back into the black embrace of the ocean.

Come on… Come on… There!

Sollux felt it, the distinct touch of fabric brushed his fingertips. With renewed vigor Sollux grabbed out for it, successfully clenching onto what had to be his father’s coat. Digging his heels into the rocky and sandy bottom, Sollux heaved his father towards the surface and the shore. It was a difficult task, and Sollux’s first attempt left him sputtering for air as he didn’t quite reach the surface while encumbered, but the second time he was able to get his father’s head and his own to bob above the water.

Teeth chattering, they made their way back to shore. Sollux’s breath was coming in wheezes from the strain and salt stung his eyes and clung to his glasses, making it downright impossible to see. They must have drifted out away from the shore with the current as Sollux could feel no bottom, but he had no idea which way was towards the shore with his fogged up and water drenched glasses. Fear laced his heart that they wouldn’t be able to make it out to shore.

Going off an instinct, Sollux strained his other senses. He listened for the waves to pull him in, for the crash of waves on the shore. When to two happened simultaneously….

There was the shore! To his left! With renewed vigor, Sollux began the haul towards where he knew dry land to be.

He did dip below the water a few times as he struggled with his extra burden, but eventually it wasn’t so hard to keep his head above the water, though the weight of the world seemed to overbearing and gravity was a force that seemed so much stronger than him…

A few moments later he had to bend over to drag his father out of the water, wheezing himself with the effort of pulling and keeping himself upright. His father looked dreadfully pale and was freezing to the touch. It made Sollux’s heart heave to see the once strong figure appear so weak. His fingers were shaking from fear, adrenaline, and cold as they fought to enter his soaked pocket. It took a moment of fighting the clinging fabric, but he pulled out his phone in its god-gifted waterproof case. His eyes were brimming with tears as he called for an ambulance.

 _It’ll be okay,_ he told himself as phone rang.  _He’s going to be fine…._

 _  
_“Yeth? Hello? Ith thith 911?” He said, teeth chattering and his lisp becoming pronoucedly worse.

“Yes this is, please state your emergency…”

—-

Fortunately, his father survived that day. He was rushed to the hospital along with borderline hypothermic Sollux into intensive care. Sollux was allowed to go the morning after, but his father wasn’t so lucky. Instead, the sickly man was placed under permanent bed rest, and, much to Sollux’s and his mother’s dismay, it was there he stayed.

A few weeks after his last visit, his father died. And with his passing, everything good about their visits ended as well.

There were no more sandcastles to build.

There was no more laughter to be had.

No more skipping stones across the water.

No more staring up at the stars at the beach.

And definitely no more songs to be sung.

The day after the funeral Sollux went to the beach again. The beach was the same as it always was. That day the sun was shining and the sun was setting, casting everything in a warm glow. The breeze was fine and the air tasted of salt…

But to Sollux everything was a condemnation.

The water looked of blood… The waves looked menacing and feirce. Sollux instinctively shuffled away from the water’s edge as the tide drew the water near. The wind was bitter, harsh, and roaring. The cliffs looked hostile around him. The trees looked like forlorn prisoners stuck in the half stone bowl, waiting for the rest of their prison to weather away.

The water was no longer his friend; it was now his enemy. Once, its beautiful waves crashing against the shore were breath taking.

Now he just wanted to vomit.

Vaguely he remembered an old folk tale that his father had told him once. The legend of a beautiful lady perched on a rock in the midst of a vast sea…

A Siren.

That’s what the creatures were that lured sailors to crash on rocky shores by their voices, or even in some tales, just their looks.

Sollux understood that there were never any beautiful ladies singing on the shore to lure his father and himself to their dooms. No, it was the sea itself that drew them in and threw them violently back onto the rocks.

He narrowed his eyes distrustfully on what he had previously thought was his sanctuary.

It was blatantly obvious to him now that it was his own personal circle of hell.

And all Sollux could do was blame himself.


End file.
